Car roof



June 14, 1938.

c. D. BoNsALL 2,120,349

CAR ROOF Filed Feb. 2e, 193e 2 sheets-sheet 1 L4 f7 -':l-f

I Z l f VENTO E.'

v /N Bewaar/Q June 14, 1938. c;- D, BONSALL 2,120,349

CAR ROOF Filed Feb. 26, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 db 4a C e e .00u/Cae /N KEN1-oe.-

mmmrlmwg Patented June 14, 1938 l CAR ROOF Charles David Bonsall, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Standard Railway Equipment Manufacturin poration of Delaware Company, a cor- Application February 26, 1936, Serial No. 65,769

13 Claims.

This invention relates to welded car roofs and is a continuation in part of my copending application for patent for improvement in car roof Serial No. 659,493, led March 3, 1933, now Patent No. 2,034,385 dated March 17, 1936.

The invention relates principally lto car roofs of the type wherein the roof sheets extend from side plate to side plate of the car and are connected along their adjacent margins by riveted upstanding seams that have reinforcing plates or carline members embodied therein and are covered by weatherproong seam caps. The invention has for its principal objects to dispense with the caps and rivets heretofore required for the seams and thus reduce the weight of the roof and the cost thereof, to increase the weatherproofing qualities of the seams, to render the marginal portions of the sheets fully effective in taking care of stresses, and to utilize the seam reinforcing plates or carline members as supports for the running board. The invention consists principally in securing together adjacent roof sheet flanges and the reinforcing plate or carline member disposed therebetween by welds that extend along the upper edges of said flanges and said member.. It also consists in providing the seam reinforcing element with a portion adapted to constitute a support for the running board; and it also consists in the parts and in the combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification and wherein like symbols refer to like parts wherever they occur,

Fig. 1 is a plan View of a portion of a car roof embodying my invention,

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section through one-half of the roof on the line 2 2 in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical longitudinal section through the roof at the ridge on the line 3--3 in Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a similar section taken intermediate between the ridge and eaves on the line lin Fig. 2, Fig. 5 is a fragmentary horizontal section at the eaves on the line 5 5 in Fig. 2,

Fig. 6 is a Vertical section on the line 6 5 in Fig. 5,

50 Fig. 'l is a side view of the greater portion of one of the sectional seam reinforcing plates before its attachment to the carline,

Figs. 8, 9, l0, 11 and 12 are fragmentary crosssections similar to Fig. 4 illustrating constructions of modified form,

(el. 10s- 5.4)

Fig. 13 is a view similar to Fig. 2 illustrating another modified form of the invention,

Fig. 14 is a fragmentary vertical section on the line |4I4 in Fig. 13,

Fig. 15 is a similar section on the line I 5-I5 in Fig. 13; and

Fig. 16 is a detached side elevational view of a portion of the carline member shown in Fig. 13.

In the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 7, inclusive, carlines A of inverted channel-shaped section with outstanding base flanges I extend from side plate B to side plate B of the car where their tops 2 are curved downwardly and merge into depending end flanges 3 that constitute continuations of said base flanges and are riveted or otherwise secured to the vertical faces of said side plates. Metal roof sheets C extend from side plate to side plate of the car with their side margins resting on the flat tops of adjacent carlines and with a space intervening between said margins. The roof sheets are provided at their eaves ends with depending flanges 4 that are riveted or otherwise rigidly secured to the outer faces of th'e side plates; and along their side margins said sheets are provided with upstanding seam flanges 5 that are turned down over the side plates with the downturned eaves flanges 4 of said sheets. Conformably to the so-called neutral axis type of roof, the roof sheets are offset downwardly between carlines to form a roof consisting of alternating flat-topped ribs D and flat-bottomed channels E that extend from side plate to side plate of the car where the tops of the ribs merge into the plane of the bottoms of the channels.

Mounted on and rigidly secured to the top 2 of each carline is an upstanding seam reinforcing plate or rib 6 that extends longitudinally of said carline from end to end thereof between and in contact with the upstanding side flanges of the portions of the sheets supported thereon. The plate is preferably made in sections that are rigidly secured together at their abutting ends by welds l. Said plate preferably comprises end sections t and intermediate sections 9 arranged with their tops flush with the tops of the sheet flanges on opposite sides thereof, and a middle section it that extends above the intermediate sections and is provided at its upper edge with an outstanding flange ll upon which is supported and rigidly secured thereto a running board l2.

The sectional seam reinforcing plate may be rigidly secured in any desired manner to the carline. As shown in the drawings, the intermediate sections 9- and the middle section l0 of the seam reinforcing plate are provided on their undersides with lugs I3 that fit within openings il provided therefor in the top 2 of the carline and are secured in said openings preferably by welds I5 located in the openings beneath the lugs therein. The end or eaves sections 9 are curved downwardly over the downturned end flanges 3 of the carline and are secured thereto by lines of welds I6 located in the angles between said sections and said carline.

The side flanges 5 of adjacent roof sheets are rigidly secured to the seam reinforcing plate interposed therebetween by means of continuous lines of welds il, preferably of added metal, that cover the flush edges of said flanges and the end and intermediate sections 8 and 9 of said plate and extend along the sides of the middle section In thereof, thus rigidly securing the plate and seam flanges together and sealing the joints therebetween. The welds I1 are preferably made by means of an electric Welding rod of high tensile metal such as steel, whereby the welding serves to form not only a continuous tight joint but also contributes to the strength of the structure. If desired, the added metal may be in excess oi' the amount required to make the weld so as to substantially increase the strength of the roof.

In the modification shown in Fig. 8, the combined reinforcing or welding plate I8 is secured to the top of the carline by continuous lines of welds l 9 located in the angles formed by the sides of the plate of the top of the carline. In this construction, the lower portions of the roof sheet flanges 20 are disposed at an angle to the plate in order to clear the lines of welds.

In the construction shown in Fig. 9, the carline 2i is in the form of a pressed or rolled channel having a hollow upstanding rib 22 formed in the top thereof; and the roof sheet flanges 23 are disposed on opposite sides of said rib with their upper edges flush with the top thereof. The upper corners of the rib are radiused; and the flanges and rib are secured together by welds 23a that fill the V-shaped spaces between the sheet flanges and the rounded corners of the rib.

In the construction shown in Fig. 10, the carline comprises duplicate side sections 2l provided along their abutting edges with upstanding flanges 25. The side portions of the roof sheets rest on the top of the carlines and have upstanding flanges 26 disposed in contact with the flanges 25 with their upper edges flush therewith. The sheet anges 26 and carline flanges 25 are all secured together by a weld 21 that covers the flush edges thereof.

In the construction shown in Fig. ll, the carline is in the form of an angle 28 arranged with one flange uppermost and provided with a substantially v-shaped rib 29. The roof sheet flanges 30 are disposed at an angle corresponding to the sloping sides of the rib 29; and a weld Il fllls the space between said flanges and covers the portion of the rib located therebelow.

In the modification shown in Fig. 12, a mere reinforcing plate 32 is interposed between adjacent sheet flanges 33 with its lower edge substantially flush with the undersides of the sheets and with its upper edge substantially flush with the tops of the sheet flanges; the plate and flanges are secured together in the manner hereinbefore described by a weld 34 that covers the flush upper edges thereof.

In the construction shown in Figs. 13 to 16, inclusive, the carline comprises a vertically disposed plate 35 that extends upwardly between adjacent sheet flanges il with its upper edge flush with the edges thereof; and said plate and flanges are rigidly secured together by a weld 21 extending along their flush edges. The plate Il is made up of end and intermediate sections that are butt-welded together; and angle brackets Il are riveted orotherwisc secured to the opposite sides of the plate adjacent to the ridge and eaves and constitute supports for holding the roof sheets in proper position relative to the plate during the operation of welding the sheet flanges thereto. In this construction, the plate is provided in the upper edge thereof with two longitudinally spaced notches I9 located one on each side of the ridge. These notches are of a depth corresponding substantially to the depth of the sheet flanges; and vertically disposed plates 4I have their lower portions seated in said notches and secured therein by welds 4|. The plates I0 extend above the top of the seam and have one flange of a running board saddle 42 riveted or otherwise rigidly secured to their upper end portions.

The above described car roof construction has several advantages. The sheet anges are rigidly secured to the plates disposed therebetween by welds that strengthen the seams and also serve to weatherproof the same without the use of seam caps. The seam stiffening and reinforcing plate may constitute part of the carlines which support the roof sheets during the welding operation and after said operation is completed. The plates also constitute supports for the running boards; and the making of said plates in sections results in economy of material and makes it easy to give them the proper slope and shape required.

Reference is hereby made to my copending application Serial No. 185,259, filed January 17, 1938, for subject matter contained in this application.

What I claim. is:

1. A car roof comprising roof carlines, roof sheets having flanged side marginal portions supported on said carlines, said carlines having portions rigidly united to the tops thereof and extending upwardly between the flanged margins of said sheets, and welds uniting the edges of the flanged margins of said sheets to the portions of the carlines disposed therebetween, the ridge portions of the portions united to the tops of said carlines being extended above the sheet flanges at the ridge and constituting supports for a running board.

2. A car roof comprising roof sheets and carlines supporting adjacent margins of said roof sheets, said margins of said roof sheets being provided with upstanding flanges, upstanding plates secured to the tops of said carlines and extending between the flanges of the sheets supported thereby, and welds uniting the edges of said flanges to the upstanding plates interposed therebetween, said plates extending above said flanges at the ridge of the car and having portions constituting supports for the roof running board.

3. A car roof comprising carlines and roof sheets supported along their adjacent margins on said carlines, said margins of said roof sheets being provided with upstanding flanges, and plates resting on the tops of said carlines and disposed between and rigidly secured to the flanges of the sheets supported thereon, said carlines being provided beneath said plates with recesses that are spaced apart longitudinally thereof, said plates being provided on their undersides with lugs that are welded in said recesses.

4. A car roof consisting of side plates, roof sheets extending from side plate to side plate with their ends bent down over said side plates and secured thereto, said roof sheets being provided along their adjacent side margins with upstanding anges, members extending continuously from side plate to side plate between adjacent sheet anges with their ends turned down over the side plates, and welds uniting the top edges of said flanges to the members interposed therebetween, said members including ridge sections that extend above the sheet flanges and constitute supports for a running board.

5. A car roof comprising carlines of inverted channel shape having upstanding hollow ribs formed in the tops thereof, roof sheets supported on said carlines on opposite sides of said ribs, said roof sheets being provided along the sides of said ribs with upstanding iianges, and welds uniting the upper edges of said flanges to said ribs.

6. A car roof comprising metal carlines of inverted channel shape having upstanding hollow ribs formed in the tops thereof and provided with rounded upper side corners, roof sheets supported on said carlines on opposite sides of said ribs, said roof sheets being provided along the sides of said ribs with upstanding anges whose upper edges terminate substantially at the level of the tops of said ribs. and welds filling the spaces between said anges and the rounded upper corners of said ribs.

7. A carline having a roof sheet supporting top portion and a vertically disposed seam reinforcing plate mounted on said top of said carline and extending longitudinally thereof intermediate between the side edges thereof, the top of said carline being provided with longitudinally spaced recesses, and the underside of said plate having correspondingly longitudinally spaced lugs thereon adapted to be secured within said recesses.

8. A carline having a main body portion of inverted channel-shaped section with downturned ends' and a vertically disposed seam reinforcing plate fixed to the top of said body portion with downturned ends corresponding to the downturned ends of said body portion, said plate comprising a middle section adapted to constitute a support for a running board, end sections, and

intermediate sections secured to said middle and end sections.

9. A single course car roof of the type wherein hat-topped ribs alternate with fiat-bottomed channels extending crosswise of the car, said car roof comprising roof sheets extending from eaves portion to eaves portion with their sides formed into raised panels which have flanges along their margins, members disposed between adjacent anges and extending substantially the entire length thereof with the edges of said members substantially flush with the edges of said flanges, and welds of added metal covering the flush edges of said flanges and said members and uniting them together, whereby said welds increase the strength of said roof in the region of compression under vertical load.

10. A car roof comprising carlines of substantially inverted channel-shaped section, upstanding plates resting on, extending lengthwise of and welded to the tops of said carlines, roof sheets supported along their adjacent marginsA on the tops of said carlines and provided along the sides of the upstanding plates thereof with upstanding flanges, and welds uniting the upper edges of the flanges of said sheets to the upstanding plates of said carlines.

11. A car roof comprising roof sheets having upstanding flanges along their side margins, members comprising plate sections welded together and disposed end to end between said anges, means for rigidly uniting said flanges and said plate sections together, some of said plate sections being located at the ridge of the roof and extending above said flanges and having horizontal portions constituting supports for a running board.

12. A car roof comprising roof sheets having upstanding flanges along their side margins, plate sections Welded together end to end and disposed atwise between adjacent anges with one section extending above said flanges at the ridge of the car and having a horizontal portion constituting a running board support, and welds of added metal joining together the top edges of said flanges and the plate sections disposed therebetween.

13. A car roof ,comprising roof sheets having upstanding flanges along their side margins, members disposed between the flanges substantially from end to end thereof, means for rigidly securing said anges and said members together, said members being provided adjacent to and on opposite sides of the ridge of the car with upstanding lugs that extend above said flanges, running board saddles secured directly to said lugs, and a running board supported on said running board saddles.

CHARLES DAVID BONSALL. 

